Message from Michael - Journalism and Broadband - November 30, 2009

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        November 30, 2009                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

      MAKING A LIVING OFF THE EVENING NEWS

      THE BROADBAND BATTLE

      THE BROADBAND FACTS

      COCKTAIL CHATTER  -- COWS AND CHICKENS

 

We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael.  But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line. 

 

      MAKING A LIVING OFF THE EVENING NEWS:  Or can you?  The Federal Trade Commission wants to know.  And so does the Federal Communication Commission.  And so does the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.  Now, the first two I mentioned in a previous Message, but the last one is news to me, and just goes to show you how widespread the concern is.   The Paris-based organization has also launched a study on the “future of news” but with a distinctly international approach.  While the FTC hearing has such luminaries as Ariana Huffington and Rupert Murdoch, the OECD kick-off hearing had the Executive Editor of Agence France Presse and a researcher from INSEAD, the International School of Business.  That’s not to disparage the FTC group.  Far from it.  About the only person missing from the FTC workshop is Don Henley, but everybody would agree with his admonition that the news is in need of something they can use and it isn’t dirty laundry.  The FTC workshop runs tomorrow and Wednesday and includes remarks from leading luminaries along with presentations by various scholars along with panels on the state of journalism today and tomorrow, emerging business models for journalism and online advertising and consumer demand trends.  Meanwhile, the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities which also was cited in the previous Message echoes some of those same concerns, but also has an upbeat theme, saying – “there need be no second-class citizens in the democratic communities of the digital age.”  While acknowledging that the present economic downturn is “like an earthquake shaking the global economy,” the commission also says the technology “is a journalistic and political opportunity… to create a more transparent and connected democracy.” 

As a footnote, the FTC hearing will be webcast from the ftc.gov website, and there will be regular Twitter updates and RSS feeds if you want to follow the workshop online.  Or, you can wait till I do a summary in my next Message.    

      THE BROADBAND BATTLE:  As noted in the last Message, the idea of using part of the television digital spectrum as a way to provide broadband access is one of the proposals being considered by the Federal Communications Commission as a way to provide greater broadband Internet access.  As Harry A. Jessel notes in his very popular TVNewsCheck website, the cash-for-spectrum deal “has stirred up broadcasters as little else has over the past several years.” Now the various sides have started lobbing hand grenades in each other’s foxholes using industry newsletters.  Gary Shapiro, the president of the Consumer Electronics Association, says in a letter to the editor at TVNewsCheck that the country ‘desperately needs’ broadband spectrum and that broadcasters make little use of the spectrum they have, especially over the air.  Gordon Smith, the newly installed president of the National Association of Broadcasters, says, also in a letter to the editor at TVNewsCheck, that there are ‘tremendous synergies’ in the use of broadband and broadcast ‘for the enrichment of the consumer.’  Somewhat humorously, both men initially offer a conciliatory stance, before attacking the other.  The FCC is expected to provide some tentative solutions by December 16, with a final report to be presented to Congress February 17 of next year.  To paraphrase the words of the legendary American revolutionary war hero, John Paul Jones, they have not yet begun to fight.

      THE BROADBAND FACTS:  Just by way of perspective, a survey by Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project shows that two-thirds (63%) of Americans now have broadband Internet access.  That survey in April of this year is a significant increase from the half (55%) of Americans who had broadband access a year earlier.  The greatest growth came in groups which have had low broadband usage.  Broadband usage among senior citizens grew from 19% last year to 30% in the latest survey.  Among low income groups, usage grew from a quarter (25%) last year to a third (35%) this year, for those with incomes below $20,000 a year.  Much of the national debate about broadband access focuses on rural areas.  But even here, according to the Pew study, broadband usage has increased from just over a third (38%) last year to just under half (46%) this year.  BUT (there’s always a but), the definition of what constitutes Broadband varies from as little as 256Kbts to as much as 50 Mbts, with the U.S. being criticized for using the lower speed in its definition.  Given that, the U.S. still has the highest number of broadband subscribers (77.4M), followed by Japan (30M), Germany (22.5M), France (17.7M) and the U.K. (17.2M), according to figures compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperative and Development.  BUT (there we go again), the U.S. ranks 15^th, according to the data from the same group, in terms of per capita broadband penetration (per 100 inhabitants) with a quarter (25.8 per 100) having broadband access.  The top country for broadband penetration is Denmark (37.2), followed by the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland.  Notice something similar in these countries?  They’re all small, which is one of the criticisms U.S. Internet experts make about the OECD comparisons with the larger-land-mass U.S.  Of course, it has to be said Canada comes in 10^th (with 29 users).  Now, the smart ones amongst you, are saying – hey, how do you reconcile the OECD numbers with the Pew numbers?  Well, I’m not sure I can except to note that one of the arguments is the difference in the size of the households between the U.S. and many other countries.

Footnote:  It should be noted that an FCC-commissioned study by Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society argues that other countries have better broadband capabilities because of their ‘open access’ rules which require provides to lease their networks to rivals at government-regulated rates.  It should also be noted that the FCC estimates that it would cost anywhere from $20 Billion to $350 Billion to upgrade the broadband speed nationwide, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal.  To get broadband speed in the 5Mbts range would cost $20 Billion, but $50 Billion to get to 20Mbts and $350 Billion to get to 100Mbts rate.        

      COCKTAIL CHATTER:  Those cows in the Chik Fil A commercials apparently don’t need to tell people to Eat Mor Chikin.  They already are.  According to an article in The New Yorker, Americans eat 36 Million cows and 115 Million pigs each year, but a whopping 9 Billion chickens and turkeys.  In the same article writer Elizabeth Kolbert says 46 Million American families own at least one dog; 38 Million keep cats and 13 Million have freshwater aquariums with more than 170 Million fish.  That racks up $40 Billion in bills. Writer Kolbert notes these facts in a review of Jonathan Safran Foer’s book “Eating Animals” which looks at the dichotomy in how Americans view animals.

      FOOTNOTE:  In keeping with the holiday spirit, let me take a page from Miracle on 34^th Street and like the Macy’s Santa Claus, send you to the Gimbel’s of newsletters and blogs.  Lawyer David Oxenford has a terrific blog site, broadcastlawblog.com which is a must-subscribe for anybody trying to keep current with the legal and governmental vicissitudes surrounding broadcast media machinations.  Actually there are several “gimbels” which are used in my message and I will share them with you at various points.   

      SUBSCRIPTIONS:  If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com.  You can reach me directly at Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.